Spring Statement: £15m boost for super-fast broadband in North Yorkshire

Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond (left) leaves 11 Downing Street as he heads to the House of Commons, London, to deliver his first spring statement against a slew of positive economic indicators. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday March 13, 2018. With an expected drop in borrowing, higher-than-predicted GDP growth of 1.7% for 2017 and the recent elimination of the Government's deficit on day-to-day spending, Mr Hammond is expected to tell MPs that the UK is reaping the reward for years of austerity. See PA story POLITICS Statement. Photo credit should read: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

Hundreds of public sector sites across North Yorkshire will be connected with high-speed fibre broadband after the Chancellor announced £15m in extra funding for the county.

England’s largest county was one of 13 areas to benefit from the first wave of funding from the Government’s £190 million Local Full Fibre Network (LFFN), it was announced in the Spring Statement.

The success of this bid underlines yet again the progress which NYCC and NYnet have made in creating a very strong digital infrastructure in the county.

Don Mackenzie

North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) and its wholly-owned company, NYnet, applied for a share of £95m from the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

The money will be used to connect nearly 400 public sector sites with fibre broadband across 16 towns, providing the basis for the expansion of fibre connectivity which will add to the county’s digital infrastructure.

The county’s executive member for broadband, Don Mackenzie, said: “The success of this bid underlines yet again the progress which NYCC and NYnet have made in creating a very strong digital infrastructure in the county, which is good for our residents and for our businesses.”

“The next step after finalising the agreement with DCMS is to undertake a procurement process to get the best value for North Yorkshire. This be the focus of activity this year with the deployment of the fibre likely to start next year.”

Recently, the council signed a contract with Openreach which will deliver superfast broadband coverage with speeds of more than 30Mbps to an additional 14,239 homes and businesses in North Yorkshire.